Rhino Climb Mt Kenya 2008

11 Day Challenge - Dates to Suit

With the snow-kissed, glacier-riddled peaks of Mt Kenya, sweeping savannah punctuated by rocky hills and free flowing rivers, the Laikipia Plateau and its abundant wildlife is the perfect site for a physical challenge.

On Mt Kenya we’ll climb to the peak of Pt Lenana at sunrise, an experience that’ll leave you on top of the world, before coming back down to earth. Then we go on safari in community-owned areas viewing wildlife, interacting with different tribes and visiting Laikipia Wildlife Forum projects that your fundraising has helped. You will experience the living, beating, breathing heart of Africa. You will want to stay longer. We just know it.

As well as a wonderful social scene, this will be the best time you will ever have had and you will feel healthier for it.

Mt Kenya
Thrusting 5,199m above the Equator, Mt Kenya’s gleaming snow-licked summits rise past glacier-sculpted valleys and alpine moorland riddled with clear tarns and trout-filled streams. Elephant, giraffe and eland roam its lower slopes, while the stunning vegetation – giant lobelias appear like spiky pokers – have made it a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Small wonder it was deified by the local Kikuyu people, whose doors always faced what they believed was the seat of the god Ghai.

Forced onto the earth by volcanic eruptions around 3 million years ago, its original 7,500m have been eroded by glaciers. But it’s still a massive, spectacular challenge, with thickly forested foothills growing out of the Central Highlands and rocketing up to Batian and Nelion peaks. There are popular trails, but as with all Rift Valley Adventures’ (our ground operators) trips, we don’t do mainstream. Years of local knowledge and experience have allowed RVA to map their own routes, well away from rundown mountain huts, trail litter and other climbers. And it’s in this solitude that Mt Kenya really begins to shine, climaxing in a sunrise summit with some of the most memorable views on the continent.

The rarely used RVA / Timau route, on the north side of the mountain, has been mapped by the Rift Valley team for clients who want to escape the huts and other climbers. It meanders through pristine forest and alpine health land, past wonderful plant life, with a final section through open country without a path in sight. Maps, compass and most importantly, a knowledgeable guide, are crucial. We sleep in tents, pitched by the side of silvery streams - trout supper will never be fresher!

Kenya or Kilimanjaro?
It’s a heavyweight duel between the two tallest mountains in Africa. Kilimanjaro just across the border in Tanzania, narrowly wins the height contest at 5,896m. But for hiking, we think it’s Kenya that’s the undisputed champion!

Why? Well Kili is younger, has suffered less erosion, leaving it with walking routes restricted to long scree paths up the mountain. By contrast, Kenya's a maze of severely eroded valleys, streams and changing eco zones, dotted with unique flora and fauna. If they were the same height, we don’t think many hikers would choose Kili.

And there’s one final factor: Kili is very closely controlled by the Tanzanian Parks Authority, limiting trekkers to three or four main tourist routes – and that includes the busy ‘Coca Cola Trails’ where you’ll see scores of other walkers. But climbing Mt Kenya’s less obvious routes, with RVA's guides’ encyclopaedic local knowledge, is a very different experience.

Interested?
Download the document below for more details about the challenge or email events@savetherhino.org